Newsletter Archive

Newsletter No. 283


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FreePint 6th August 2009
No.283
 Contents

Editorial
By Sara Waddington

My Favourite Tipples
By Jill Foster

FreePint Bar

FUMSI Features

  • Cooperative Intelligence: Help Yourself by Helping Others
  • Reference Desk: Tips on Using Your Wits

VIP Features

  • Intriguing Results
  • Close-Up
  • Recent postings to the LiveWire

Jinfo - Jobs and Events

Jobs in Information:

  • Records Manager/Officer
  • National Account Manager
  • Information Specialists - Unit Head
  • Information Specialist
  • Interim Head of Library & Learning Resources
  • Knowledge Manager - Reading or Birmingham

Events in Information:

  • Scenario Planning for the Information Centre
  • Virtual Communities, Web 2.0, Competitive Intelligence Portals
  • 3rd European Conference on Information management and Evaluation
  • Human Intelligence (HUMINT)

Highlights from ResourceShelf and DocuTicker

Gold and Forthcoming Articles

Contact Information



 About FreePint

FreePint publishes newsletters, websites, magazines and resources for the information industry. The FreePint Family of publications publishes practical tips, product reviews, expert tips, research collections and hands-on tools to support information work of all kinds. The FreePint Bar provides a Q&A forum for getting your research questions answered and building a network of peers worldwide.

This twice-monthly free FreePint Newsletter serves as a guide to the latest content, including discussion at the Bar, tips articles, vacancies, professional development events, product reviews, editorial commentary and more. Subscribing is free and connects you with the information community around the world. Subscribe today.

The latest announcements, including publication contents, can always be found at the FreePint Feed. Subscribe to RSS for the FreePint Feed for fastest updates.

Please share FreePint with others by forwarding this newsletter.


 Editorial

By Sara Waddington

Sara WaddingtonNew research is now underway, to help everyone in the industry understand the impact of the economic downturn. Take 10 minutes to participate in FreePint's Economic Impact survey. If you provide a valid email address at the end (not associated with your responses), you will receive a copy of the full report upon publication, to better understand how your organisation's choices around content and staff budgets and priorities compare with those of your peers around the world.

In other research, FUMSI has published the FUMSI Report: Folio on Social Media in the Enterprise, including the results of our survey on social media practices, editorial comment from our Share contributing editor Martin Belam, and five practical articles on implementing and leveraging social media for business. Survey findings weighed usage of tools like LinkedIn, Facebook, online workshops and listservs against traditional offline resources like networking events and face-to-face conferences. We also gathered enlightening information on organisational policies on social media. Read more about the results on our press page, and purchase the report for further insight and expert advice, or subscribe to FUMSI to receive similar reports every month.

Cooperative IntelligenceIn this issue of the FreePint Newsletter, Ellen Naylor explains, in her article 'Cooperative Intelligence: Help Yourself by Helping Others' why cooperative intelligence - the process of developing your networks by finding ways to help others - can greatly boost your info gathering skills. You are helped because you help others: no strings attached. One of the key findings in knowledge management (KM) is that people share their knowledge only when they feel cared for and when they care for the organisation. It is not new technology that entices people to exchange data: it's the quality of the human relationship.

Bob Duckett draws on his years of experience to give handy tips on handling the wide range of questions that land at the public reference desk in his article 'Reference Desk: Tips on Using Your Wits'. He identifies the sort of things that members of staff need to consider when dealing with an enquiry as well as some of the common mistakes and pitfalls made.

Until next time...

Sara Waddington
Managing Editor
FreePint


FreePint is a Registered Trademark of Free Pint Limited (R) 1997-2009

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For a wide array of hands-on training and resource materials, turn to Quantum2, an innovative skills development programme provided *free* by Dialog. The programme helps information professionals:

  • Expand your services through strategic and business competencies

  • Improve flow of information in your organisation

  • Gain visibility and build value for your work

Discover best practices, *plus* the know-how to implement them.
Free monthly newsletter and further information at: http://quantum.dialog.com/

 My Favourite Tipples

By Jill Foster

I have always been a great reader so here is a selection of handy book sites that may be useful for you.......

  • The Guardian has some excellent book reviews on its website as well as editors' picks of original writing, an A-Z of authors, a book club (hosted by John Mullan, professor of English at University College, London) and lists of books by genre.

  • Penguin has an interesting taster feature (first chapters of all Penguin's latest novels) available to download for free. You can read them on screen, download and print them or put them on your iPhone or Blackberry. You can also try out its eBook tasters.

  • The Times Online website also offers book reviews, as well as interviews with authors, Top 10 book lists, articles from The Times Literary Supplement, book extracts and a book group.

  • If you want to find a certain book anywhere in the UK and compare book prices between UK retailers before buying, then the Find-Book website could be of help. It covers audio books and also has a price watch feature to e-mail you whenever a book drops below the price you have specified.

  • Waterstones' website is useful for book searches, daily book news, downloadable audio books, book offers, competitions and also has its own book club.

Over her career, Jill Foster has held various company directorships and is an avid reader and information 'finder'.


Would you like to add your Favourite Tipples suggestions for the FreePint Newsletter or write an article for FUMSI (Find, Use, Manage or Share Information?).

If so, please contact Sara Waddington at sara.waddington@freepint.com with your ideas or visit <http://web.freepint.com/go/family/contribute>.

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City University London

School of Informatics
http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/

With a postgraduate degree, you can earn up to 37% more than your colleagues who only have an undergraduate degree
(The Guardian, 17 Jan 2009)

Join our Master's courses in:

  • Information Science
  • Library Science
  • Information Management in the Cultural Sector

Our graduates find employment in library and information management, information research and analysis, resource description and information architecture.

Start in September 2009; begin your application now »

Also available: short courses for professional development
Past topics include Digital Forensics, Mobile Search, and Data Visualisation

Call us on +44 (0)20 7040 0248 or visit http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/.

Trial FUMSI

Trial FUMSI - only £39 for three months

Order online »

For the cost of a single FUMSI report, you can get FUMSI for three months and share with every location of your organisation to gauge its value.

Take a no-obligation trial today and get:

  • July: FUMSI Report: Folio and Survey on Social Media in the Enterprise

  • August: FUMSI Report: Folio and Survey on Alternative Search

  • September: FUMSI Report: Folio and Survey on knowledge management.

Plus the monthly FUMSI Magazine and internal reuse of all materials -- intranet, internal newsletter, custom training packets...

Request sample materials, or order online today.

 FreePint Bar

By Sara Waddington

Sara WaddingtonData on university research projects, info services in the credit crunch, glucose syrup consumption and alternative search engines are hot topics on the Bar at the moment. See a round-up of recent conversations below and click through to join the discussion. Post your research dilemmas to the FreePint Bar »

FreePint Bar

  • Can anyone help a Bar member find sources that list current university research projects. He is looking in particular at those researching infectious diseases. Advice, hints and tips from the Bar would be greatly appreciated.

  • The mood on the street lately has been that the dust is starting to settle following economic upheaval. FreePint is conducting a survey to understand how information functions in organisations have weathered the storm. Please take a few minutes to participate. The survey will take less than 10 minutes to complete. Your responses will be completely anonymous. We will send a copy of the report to everyone who provides a valid email address.

  • One 'Pinter would appreciate the Bar's thoughts on finding data and sources for consumption of glucose syrup in Europe?

  • Another 'Pinter would like to know the Bar's experiences or knowledge of Risk Disk?.

Visit the FreePint Bar »

FreePint Feed

The FreePint Feed keeps you up to date on what's new across all the sites in the FreePint Family.

  • [FUMSI] Report: Folio on Social Media in the Enterprise
    FUMSI has published the FUMSI Report: Folio on Social Media in the Enterprise, including the results of our survey on social media practices, editorial comment from our Share contributing editor Martin Belam, and 5 practical articles on implementing and leveraging social media for business...

  • [RS] Resource of the Week: How to Read a Privacy Policy
    While we usually post reports on our sister site, DocuTicker, we wanted to make sure this one was seen by as many folks as possible. This report - from The Common Data Project, a nonprofit based in NYC - analyzes the privacy policies of 10 major websites, as well as several start-ups...

  • [VIP] Reviews of Alacra Pulse and RightTrade
    Get an insider's view of two innovative products that make the most of new forms of publishing: Alacra Pulse and RightTrade, both reviewed in this month's VIP...

Visit the FreePint Feed »


Sara Waddington is Managing Editor of FreePint. She can be contacted at sara.waddington@freepint.com


The FreePint Bar is where you can get free help with your tricky research questions.

Subscribe to the free FreePint Digest to receive a weekly update of the latest Bar discussion, plus FreePint Feed announcements.

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 FUMSI Features

FUMSIFUMSI publishes articles, tools, and a monthly magazine, to give you practical help with information skills. Visit http://www.fumsi.com/

However you Find, Use, Manage or Share Information, you'll find something in FUMSI to help.

Become a fan of FUMSI on Facebook »

We add new articles to the FUMSI database in each practice area every month, which are free to read, browse, email, print or save. Here are the most recent additions:

Cooperative Intelligence: Help Yourself by Helping Others

Ellen NaylorBy Ellen Naylor
FUMSI: Find

Competitive intelligence may have a bit of a cloak and dagger reputation, conjuring up images of secretive sleuthing. But Ellen Naylor makes a strong argument that Cooperative Intelligence - that is, voluntarily sharing information with others in our increasingly connected digital world - may yield better results for customers and companies in the end.

WHAT'S INSIDE: 'As I conduct my research, I often share some of my findings to those I am interviewing which often cause them to open up in ways that surprise me! I apply cooperative intelligence practices with my LinkedIn and Twitter connections. I have helped some LinkedIn folks find work, and answered questions under the Q&A in LinkedIn Groups.'

Read, print, save or forward this article now »

Reference Desk: Tips on Using Your Wits

Bob DuckettBy Bob Duckett
FUMSI: Use

The best training in the world may not always be enough when you're staffing a reference desk that serves the general public. From contextualizing to active listening to polite deflecting, Bob Duckett draws on his years of experience to provide tips for handling the wide range of questions that land at the public reference desk.

WHAT'S INSIDE: 'On being asked about shipping routes to West Africa, and wondering what source to seek, I was saved by the enquirer volunteering that he wanted to work his passage and happy being given Jobs Abroad from off the open shelves.'

Read, print, save or forward this article now »

Also recently added to the FUMSI database:

Browse all FUMSI articles »

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Nexis Direct

Discover Nexis®Direct

LexisNexis® offers world-class content, information and workflow solutions for professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, accounting and academic markets - to make their jobs faster, easier and more productive.

Nexis, our comprehensive news and business information service and Nexis®Direct, our new tool for business users, provide quick access to premium content covering news, companies, executives and industries worldwide.

To find out more, visit our website or call us on 020 7400 2984.

 VIP Features

VIP VIP publishes in-depth, unbiased reviews of business information products. If you purchase or use premium information resources, make VIP part of your professional reading every month »

VIP issue 68VIP Magazine No. 68 includes:

  • Intriguing Results: The VIP Editorial Team details the results from a recent Outsourcing Survey conducted by Free Pint Ltd. and Integreon.

  • Close-Up: Highlights from Anne Jordan's detailed reviews of Alacra Pulse (a recent addition to the Alacra suite of products) and RightTrade, a media sentiment and financial analytics service.

  • Under Pressure: Licensing for re-use of newspaper content is set to extend to web sites from next year. VIP reports on this licensing story and rounds up the latest industry and product news.

  • A special two-page section called VIP Horizon. Based on conversations with subscribers, we are experimenting with ways to help you communicate internally around issues and challenges in information work. We invite VIP subscribers to extract the VIP Horizon pages, add your notes, and share them freely throughout their *entire* organisation, regardless of their distribution level.

In the next VIP: We review SkyMinder's aggregated credit database and Esmerk.

Purchase VIP Magazine No. 68 from the VIP Website, or start your subscription now.

VIP LiveWire

VIP contributing editors comment daily on what's happening in the industry.
Visit the LiveWire for their insights, and subscribe to the free VIP Wires Weekly for regular alerts.

VIP Wires Weekly is generously sponsored by LexisNexis.

Recent posts:

  • Anyone who uses content from Associated Press (AP) can increasingly expect to find that it is being tracked to detect and prevent illegitimate use. The not-for-profit news co-operative has announced the creation of a news registry system that will 'wrap' each news item using an open source microformat developed by AP called hNews.........
    Direct link to posting: http://www.vivavip.com/go/e22457

  • This week Google rolled out a new product to several thousand programmers as a developer preview: Google Wave. What is it?.........
    Direct link to posting: http://www.vivavip.com/go/e22442

  • Currently, the news is full of economic espionage reports - surely a sign of the current crisis. Companies tend towards illegal business behaviour in challenging times as business opportunities become rare and competition tough.........
    Direct link to posting: http://www.vivavip.com/go/e22441

VIP LiveWire »

VIP Wire

Information-related product and news announcements. Post your releases and receive news FREE.

VIP Wire »

VIP - Subscribe and Back Issues

Start a trial subscription today for only £80 for three months. Visit http://web.vivavip.com/go/shop/volume/trial/ to start your trial. You can also purchase back-issues of VIP from the VIP Archive.

VIP Archive »

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VIP Wires Weekly

VIP Wires Weekly

Free weekly update with editorial commentary on information industry trends plus press release headlines.

Subscribe now »

Popular posts from the last 60 days:

Add your commentary to any post »

FreePint Survey

When the dust settles, what's your status for staff and budget?

Complete the FreePint survey to learn how your organisation's responses compare with others:

http://digbig.com/5bachx

10 minutes to complete; provide a valid email address to receive a copy of the report.

Learn about staff and budget changes and how info pros are coping. Fully anonymous.

 Jinfo - Jobs and Events in Information

JinfoJinfo is the central location for supporting your information career. The Jinfo Jobs database lists vacancies, and the Jinfo Events database lists workshops, conferences, training, webinars and other professional development opportunities.

Start a free subscription to receive the weekly Jinfo Update, with a complete list of the latest vacancies and events, or search the databases at any time (free).

Jinfo Jobs in the FreePint Newsletter are supported through our partnership with Quantum2, an innovative skills development programme offered by Dialog. Learn more at <http://quantum.dialog.com/>.

Jinfo Jobs:

Here is a selection of the latest featured vacancies in the Jinfo database:

  • Records Manager/Officer
    Responsible for physical file and records management systems, as well as the application of internal records management policies and relevant best practice...
    Recruiter: Weekes Gray Recruitment
    Country: United Kingdom

  • National Account Manager
    Home based (France) or Paris corporate office. A rare opportun...
    Recruiter: TFLP
    Country: France

  • Information Specialists - Unit Head
    Information Specialists - Unit Head, Cheltenham
    Recruiter: GCHQ
    Country: United Kingdom

  • Information Specialist
    Work closely with leading clinicians and other stakeholders, and to contribute as a member of a network of information specialists...
    Recruiter: University of Surrey
    Country: United Kingdom

  • Interim Head of Library & Learning Resources
    Exciting interim management role for 6 months at a University in the East Midlands.
    Recruiter: Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited
    Country: United Kingdom

  • Knowledge Manager - Reading or Birmingham
    Knowledge Manager required with networking skills to work in 12 month Maternity Leave contract in scientific/retail environment.
    Recruiter: Glen Recruitment
    Country: United Kingdom

Browse all Jinfo Jobs »

Jinfo Events:

Here is a selection of the latest featured events in the Jinfo database:

Browse all Jinfo Events »


Jinfo - the best place for information-related job vacancies and professional development opportunities.

  • RECRUITING?
    - Advertise a vacancy for just GBP 195
    - 10% discount for agencies
    - 50% discount for registered charities

  • RUNNING AN EVENT?
    List it on Jinfo to reach a targeted audience seeking professional development opportunities
    - Get started at <http://web.jinfo.com/events/load/>
    - Partner events listed for free; enquire at <support@jinfo.com>.

Find out more today at <http://www.jinfo.com/>

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 Highlights from ResourceShelf and DocuTicker

ResourceShelfEvery week, the editors of ResourceShelf explore a Resource of the Week. Get them for free every week via email by subscribing to the ResourceShelf Newsletter.

Become a fan of ResourceShelf and DocuTicker on Facebook.

Recently published:

DocuTicker
DocuTicker publishes citations of full-text, free reports available on the web. Visit daily for new postings, or subscribe to the weekly DocuTicker Newsletter.

Highlights:

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 Gold

A look back at what the FreePint Newsletter covered at this time in previous years:

FreePint Newsletter Archive »

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 Forthcoming Articles - Provisional

FUMSI

  • DIY Detection
  • Peer-Reviewed Information
  • The Guardian's Library
  • M&A Research

VIP

  • Esmerk review
  • Skyminder review

If you have a suggestion for an article topic, or would like to write, then please contact FreePint's Editor Sara Waddington at <sara.waddington@freepint.com> or read the notes for authors at <http://web.freepint.com/go/family/contribute/>

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 Contact Information

Address:

Free Pint Limited
4-6 Station Approach Ashford, Middlesex TW15 2QN, United Kingdom

Telephone:

UK: 0870 141 7474 Int: +44 870 141 7474

Directions and maps: <http://www.freepint.com/contact.htm>

Contributors to this issue:

Sara Waddington (Managing Editor, FreePint), Jill Foster, Ellen Naylor, Bob Duckett, Nancy Davis Kho (Copyeditor), Robin Neidorf (General Manager), William Hann (Publisher), Douglas Brown (Proofreader).

Advertisers/Sponsors:

Quantum2 from Dialog, City University London School of Informatics, LexisNexis, Sue Hill Recruitment and Services Limited, Glen Recruitment, TFPL, Weekes Gray Recruitment, GCHQ, University of Surrey.


(c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2009 <http://www.freepint.com/>
Technology by Willco <http://www.Willco.com/>

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Please note: FreePint (ISSN 1460-7239) is a registered trademark of, and published by, Free Pint Limited. The publishers will NEVER make the subscriber list available to any other company or organisation.

The opinions, advice, products and services offered herein are the sole responsibility of the contributors. Whilst all reasonable care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the publication, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.

This publication may be freely copied and/or distributed in its entirety. However, individual sections MAY NOT be copied and/or distributed without the prior written agreement of the publishers. Write to Robin Neidorf, General Manager, <robin.neidorf@freepint.com> for more details. Product names used in FreePint are for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners. FreePint disclaims any and all rights in those marks. All rights reserved.

FreePint is published by Free Pint Limited, registered in England and Wales. Registered Number: 3754418. Registered Office: Delaport Coach House, Lamer Lane, Wheathampstead, Herts, AL4 8RQ

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